Spiritual Infection
The Infection, was a plague of supernatural origin that affected universe D-913 in the late summer of 2010, it was purposely created and unleashed as a form of mystic pseudo-biological warfare by The Others with the intent of wiping out the majority - if not all - Humans on the planet in an event that would quickly become known as the Apocalypse. The plague in question proved itself to be extremely effective as it's virulent nature made it capable of being contracted and transmitted in numerous ways that surpassed the abilities of most traditional RNA pathogens. However, it's important to note that not all people infected by the plague would react to it in the same way, and while no specific reasoning for this is established in-universe, it's hinted and theorized by the characters that a variety of factors, both biological and psychological may have had an impact on each individual's inevitable transformation. These ideas ranged from the strength of one's resolve and/or willpower, blood type, religious reverence (or lack thereof), chemical balances, personality, genetic makeup or morality. It's also worth mentioning that the plague had appeared before at various points throughout human history, but never reached the point of being apocalyptic in scale, leading to many creatures and tales of mythology across various religions as being attributed to one common source, albeit seen through different cultural perspectives. Ultimately, the only thing that can be discerned about the three types of infected, aside from being carriers of the plague, was their shared homicidal tendencies, loss of reasoning/humanity, and a craving for human flesh, they also share a weakness towards salt and fire much like the Others themselves, however, the effectiveness of each tactic varied from creature to creature. It's also worth noting the overall connection to the Others in general, while zombies were nothing but empty shells, mass canon-fodder to be enslaved and controlled by the Others, Jiangshi and Wendigo both served as further and more direct corruptions of the person/soul afflicted with the pathogen, if not possessed by another entity entirely, in essence, becoming more like demons themselves. Zombies The most prevalent outcome of humans infected with the infection. When the Apocalypse began, almost immediately, every deceased corpse that was still of moderate composure reanimated as these. Zombies (zombi; originating from the Kongo words nzambi meaning god, zumbi meaning fetish, and the Kimbundu word nzumbi meaning soul in reference to a tormented spirit wandering the world) are essentially mindless, shambling corpses. They commonly feast on the flesh of the living out of instinct and hunger rather than any biological necessity. All their vital organ functions have ceased and their sole purpose in the Apocalypse is to serve as hostile walking carriers for spreading the plague. The majority of living people that become infected (either by inhaling large concentrations of the infection's gaseous form or by being bitten, scratched or being exposed to fluids of the infected) will most likely die and reanimate as zombies. Although zombies generally tend to act of their own solitary volition, they have a preset herding mentality but, as per their origins in Haitian folklore, are also are capable of being controlled indirectly by The Others through a sort of limited psychic hive-mind communication, which explains their tendency to migrate en masse. However, the connections between zombies to the Others continue, as Others are capable of further raising uninfected dead bodies as zombies, and certain Others are even capable of absorbing the astral energy (spirits) from zombies and in effect, become either stronger or heal themselves using said energy, this would always result in the demise of the zombie. Zombies are also the weakest of the three forms of infected, although their decomposition is slowed, as the plague kills and prevents most forms of bacteria from breaking down the zombie's body, it is not completely halted, and natural processes such as cellular death, blood coagulation, rigor mortis and overall general necrosis greatly hinders their motor skills, functioning and sensory abilities in spite of the supernatural force keeping them "alive" and forcing them to attack others. This means that they are extremely fragile and can be disabled with relative ease through physical blunt-force trauma. Likewise, in a similar manner to the Others, they can be expelled by exposure to salt. They are typically visually impaired as to be legally blind, unable to visually tell between humans and other zombies and have limited functions of smell and hearing as well, zombies typically use an arcane sixth sense to locate and detect prey, although there are still workarounds to avoid being detected in this way. Zombies also expire rather quickly on their own due to their natural state of decay, ceasing function entirely within a matter of days to weeks depending on environmental factors. The transformation from a human to a zombie can take anywhere from ten minutes to several hours. In this time, the person who had been afflicted would quickly begin to weaken as their body would try and fail to eliminate the foreign pathogen, their limbs and muscles would begin to spasm as the pathogen took control of their nervous system before the host would inevitably expire, within a short period after clinical death, the deceased would then reanimate, now a complete puppet of the pathogen's will. Had it not been for the paranormal nature of the infection and the simultaneous rise of the Others, it is entirely reasonable to assume that most world militaries, militias and police forces would've been entirely capable of neutralizing or even completely eradicating the zombie threat, particularly due to their weakness and lack of self-preservation, however, the very sudden appearance of the virus in large population centers worked to both cripple the available firepower of the aforementioned forces, as well as completely overpower those remaining in the fight with sheer numbers, with most major cities falling only hours before the rest of the world had a clue that anything had happened. After the first month of the Apocalypse had passed, the once overwhelming 'hordes' of zombies had completely disappeared, and the remaining stragglers proved as little more than a rare nuisance or as a sign of recent death and infection to survivors over the coming years, often being used as their own form of firepower between warring human factions. Jiangshi The exception to the rule, Jiangshi (殭屍, also geung-si, gangsi, kyonshī, phi dip chin, cương thi, and hantu pocong, also commonly referred to as Stalkers) are reanimated corpses that, unlike their disabled 'zombie' counterparts, have obtained heightened abilities as a result of the infection. In this case, the infection not only reanimates the host's body from death but rather corrupts and transforms their spirit into one that more closely resembles a demon. Jiangshi are distinguishable from the typical undead not only by their pale skin but also through their behaviours, which differ quite heavily from their shambling undead cousins. As well as being extremely fast and nimble, albeit stiff in their movements, they are usually spotted crawling along walls, ceilings and other surfaces in a very strange and contortionist manner (similar to the Onryō's of Japanese culture). Jiangshi are also frequently known for their tendency to leap from surface-to-surface and typically attempt to pounce their prey through corners or shadows, earning them their namesake. They are capable of higher thought processes than the average zombies, familiar enough with the concept of stealth and often luring prey into simple traps or away from groups and are capable of extremely limited, usually repetitious speech, as well as expressing limited forms of emotion such as laughing, smiling and showing rather obscene sadistic pleasure when slaughtering or devouring victims, though when killing a victim seems improbable it is just as likely that the Jiangshi will attempt to 'vomit' on a victims face, insuring infection and the spread of the plague. Jiangshi are also just as likely to drink the blood of their victims as they are to consume their flesh as the blood serves as the primary 'life force' in which they feed. Likewise, Jiangshi are commonly known to hibernate in structures, caves, or under porches during the daytime and are rarely seen during the waking hours save for sewers, dark buildings and during inclement weather, in this sense, they are very similar to the vampires of European folklore. Also, unlike zombies, they are completely impervious to any sort of decomposition, giving them their oft-startling, pale, stiff and taxidermy-esque appearance. They are also much harder to dispose of, if they consume or are otherwise being exposed to salt, it will render them immobile, but while they may appear to be "dead" in this state, it only a temporary measure. They can also be deterred by their own reflections and will retreat if severely wounded by a firearm, but are only capable of being permanently dispatched by complete incineration. Category:Apocalypse Category:Lore Category:Species Category:Pathogens